Diploma in The Common Law 

Laws modules

International protection of human rights [2660029]

1. Nature of the international legal system. Sources of international human rights law, e.g. treaty and customary international law.
2. The individual in international law: Historical perspective of protection afforded to individuals; recognition of individuals as subjects rather than objects; the evolution of international individual responsibility for acts such as crimes against humanity and war crimes; procedural capacity of individuals.
3. Universalism v. cultural relativism. Analysis of two schools of thought - viz. Human rights are universal, indivisible and transcend all economic, social and cultural barriers vis-a-vis the view that human rights are dictated by societal and cultural factors.
4. The United Nations Human Rights System. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the two 1966 Covenants which gave legal expression to the Declaration, the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; also 1990 Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty.
5. United Nations Enforcement Mechanism. Reporting, inter-State application and individual communication; 1966 Optional Protocol; Human Rights Committee; Human Rights Commission. Relative value of each mechanism.
6. Identification of vulnerable groups and international protection afforded to such groups. Vienna Declaration 1993; Programme of Action 1993.